“Alright. This case is hereby struck out as withdrawn. Mr. and Mrs. Otoo, you can go now. Enjoy your marriage. And please don’t let your fights go overboard, okay? Learn to forgive one another, and keep learning how to make each other happy. Understood?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The couple seated on the couch nearby nodded enthusiastically before following their lawyers out of the chambers, holding hands and full of beaming smiles.

Putting his pen down, Justice Paul glanced at Wayne, who stared back at him.

Then they burst into laughter.

Mrs. Otoo had filed for dissolution of her marriage to her husband a few months ago, and to say that their relationship seemed frosty would be an insult to icicles. Their first couple of appearances revealed serious rancour between the two, with sarcastic comments thrown back and forth on a regular basis. Justice Paul’s suggestion that their problems were solvable was met with extreme disagreement from both parties, who swore they could never reconcile.

Now, somehow, they had returned, bright and beaming like lovestruck teenagers, declaring they had changed their minds and wanted to withdraw the case.

“Ei, how things can change!” Justice Paul chuckled. “Wasn’t this the same couple that came to court breathing fire and brimstone at each other, swearing their marriage was over? Now look at them, walking out like some newlyweds bi!”

Wayne snickered. “Say it again oo, my Lord. When the case started, they couldn’t even look at each other without daggers in their eyes. They always sat on opposite sides of the courtroom. But today? They’re practically inseparable.”

Justice Paul chuckled deeply, his shoulders shaking. “That’s marriage for you, Wayne. Abi I told them at the beginning. It’s not always smooth sailing, but when forgiveness enters the picture, it changes everything. Now that they’ve seen it, see how happy they are now.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “The truth is, forgiveness doesn’t just save marriages; it mends relationships of all kinds. A little humility, a little understanding, and people can move mountains they thought were immovable.”

Wayne nodded thoughtfully, his grin fading into a more reflective expression. “You’re right, My Lord. Sometimes the things we hold onto, the grudges, the pride—they do more harm than good.”

Justice Paul’s gaze softened as he nodded. “Exactly. We all make mistakes, Wayne. Every now and then, we make very foolish ones. But when we choose to forgive, we free ourselves as much as the other person. It’s a lesson everyone could stand to learn.”

Wayne stood quietly for a moment, as if turning the words spoken over in his mind.

“You know, My Lord,” he said finally, “I think you’ve given me something to think about. There are some things I’ll need to work on.”

Justice Paul raised an eyebrow. “Why, are you fighting with your wife?”

Wayne shook his head. “Oh, no, no, not her. As for her, I can never stay angry at her for long.”

“Of course. The way you like playing with her buttocks, you won’t stay angry for long.”

“Eiii, my Lord!”

Wayne covered his eyes. Justice Paul never passed up an opportunity to troll him over his love for Alayaa’s backside.

Of course, it had nothing to do with Alayaa. But it had everything to do with Sodjah.

Now that he thought about it, Justice Paul was right. Fully forgiving would be freeing for him and Sodjah. It was only recently that he and Divine had been joking about how Mr. Otoo swore before them that he’d never find it in his heart to love his wife ever again. Now he had just walked out of the chambers, happily holding her hand. Letting go of the past was not easy, but clearly, it was doable. Relationships didn’t need to be destroyed forever.

Maybe it was time to consider having the meeting with the young man as soon as possible.

***

Elias lay sprawled on his bed that evening, staring at the ceiling as his phone buzzed beside him. He didn’t need to look to know who it was; he knew it was Akyaa.

For the past two days, her messages had poured in, from confused questions to concerned pleas. He’d read every one of them and left them on read.

No replies, no calls back. Not even the heart to block her outright. Just silence. The betrayal he felt was too deep to want to hear her out on anything.

She doesn’t owe you anything, an annoying voice often whispered in his mind. But it was constantly drowned out by the louder, angrier one: She should have said something. She knew what she meant to you. And it was the latter voice he preferred to follow. The former voice was totally wrong; she definitely owed him something.

The phone buzzed again. This time, he reached out, flipped it over, and stared at the latest message from her.

Elias, please. Can we talk? If I upset you, I didn’t mean to. Just let me know what’s wrong.

He sighed, setting the phone back down and closing his eyes. Not today, he thought bitterly. I’m not ready to face you.

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted from above. The familiar sounds of a heated argument drifted through the thin ceiling.

It was Felix, shouting in a rather panicked tone.

“Yaa! I said I was sorry! Please, don’t do this- ajei!”

Felix’s voice cracked, followed by the unmistakable sound of something crashing. It was probably a plate.

“You’re sorry for the where? You are sorry for the where?” Yaa’s voice, sharp and fiery, shot back. “Sorry your gbemi! Does that fix the fact that you’re a lying cheat? Huh? You this Felix boy, eh! You fool waa!”

Elias opened his eyes, rolling them as he shifted on the bed. The drama upstairs was nothing new. Just as he had predicted a few days ago, Felix had been caught with the panties of another girl in the bedroom, and was getting pounded for his unfaithfulness.

The fact that Felix continued to cheat on this psycho and still believed he could get away with it was a true testament to his sore deficiency in intelligence and wisdom. Surely a regular guy who had received a prior beating from his partner for cheating would know better than to repeat the act, but Felix was proving to be less wiser than the regular guy. Now he was getting punished for it, and deservedly so.

The sounds of slaps echoed, followed by Felix’s groans.

“Yaa, stop, please!”

“Your morda go stop. Kwasia!”

“Help!” Felix’s voice was desperate now, clearly directed at anyone who might be listening. “Somebody call the police! Elias! Anybody!”

Elias scoffed to himself as he turned on his side. Felix actually had the nerve to call his name for help? He’d rather throw himself into a grizzly bear’s territory than help out this idiot.

“Make who come help you? Massa, abeg, collect your beatings, wai. You deserve it. Young guy wey dey lie and cheat by heart diɛɛ, I never see some like this before.”

***

Natalie lay on her bed, scrolling aimlessly through WhatsApp statuses, trying her best to put herself to bed. She was still undergoing a wild internal debate, and wanted a little break from the chaos in her mind. She knew considering this proposal was the wrong route to take, but she just didn’t want to walk away like that. Marty’s feelings could not be discarded, inasmuch as her conscience kept warning her to do the right thing.

She continued scrolling, enjoying the posts from various friends, family members and coworkers.

Her thumb paused, however, upon seeing a status reposted by one of her mutual friends.

It was a message by Naphtali, his name and profile picture visible at the top of the screenshot.

“Good riddance to users with unreasonable and selfish motives. Better to cut them off than to bind yourself to them forever.”

Natalie’s breath caught in her throat.

He hadn’t mentioned her name, but he didn’t need to. It was so obvious he was talking about her.

And those words hit like a sucker punch.

Her chest tightened, anger surging through her veins as she reread the words.

“Herh, this guy paaa!” she scowled as she sat up. “Unreasonable? Selfish? Really? That’s what he’s saying about me? Herh!”

They hadn’t spoken since the joint family meeting where he declared he was no longer interested in the marriage. He had gone ahead to block her on all forms of social media. And he was still out there insulting her? The absolute nerve of it!

He had left her broken and humiliated, discarding her heartfelt apologies and vows to do better. Why did he still want to enforce this narrative that made her look like the ultimate irredeemable villain?

Sitting up in her bed, she seethed furiously over this jab. “I can’t believe this guy is out there insulting me and making me look like a terrible person!” she snarled to herself. “He that he can’t forgive, he wants to take the moral high ground? Ah ah ah!”

As she dwelt on this offensive post, her mind began to drift in a different direction regarding Marty’s proposal.

Suddenly, it wasn’t looking so bad an idea.

Why was she wasting time worrying about what was right or wrong when she had someone who actually cared about her? Marty was willing to put everything on the line for her, to make her a priority. He didn’t judge her, didn’t belittle her—he saw her for who she was and wanted her anyway. While the man she once loved was tearing her down further after rejecting her, this one wanted to make her happy.

In that moment of fury, she knew what she needed.

Happiness. And Marty was more than ready to give her that.

She quickly opened Marty’s chat. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before she started typing. Without so much as a second to think about it, she hit the send button.

“I’ve been thinking, Marty. I want to take a chance on us.”

***

Marty’s grin was as wide as could be, as he read the message he had just received, sitting on his bed while Martha, his wife, was fast asleep.

Finally, his little dream was coming true! The sweet, lovely clerk he had desired for years had finally agreed to his proposal. It might have tarried, and even looked impossible at a point with her impending wedding, but now, it was happening.

Oh, how the universe had kindly bent circumstances in his favour!

He snapped his fingers in glee. “Afa!”

Oh boy, Natalie let anger lead her down the wrong road. That’s why they say not to make decisions in moments of extreme emotion…